23 



tain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and 

 existence ? Xo. Commit it tlieii to tlie flames ; for it can con- 

 tain nothing but sophistry and ilhision." 



Permit me to enforce this most wise advice. Why trouble 

 ourselves about matters of wliich, however im])ortant they may 

 be, we do know nothing, and can know nothing? iVYe live in a 

 world which is full of misery and ignorance, and the ]dain duty 

 of each and all of ns is to try to make the little corner lie can 

 influence somewhat less miserable and somewhat less ignorant 

 than it vras before he entered it. J To do this eflectually it is 

 necessary to be fully possessed of only two l^eliefs : the flrst, 

 that the order of nature is ascertainable by our faculties to an 

 extent ^vhich is practicall}^ unlimited ; tlie second, that our voli- 

 tion counts for something as a condition of the course of events. 

 Each of these beliefs can bo verified experimentalh^, as often as 

 we like to try. Each, therefore, stands upon the strongest foun- 

 dation upon wliicli any belief can rest ; and fonns one of our 

 highest truths. 



If we find that the ascertainment of the order of nature is 

 facilitated by using one terminology, or one set of symbols, 

 ratlier than anotlier, it is our clear duty to use tlie former, and 

 no harm can accrue so long as we bear in mind that we are deal- 

 ing merely with terms and symbols. ) In itself it is of little 

 moment whether Ave express the phenomena of matter in terms 

 of spirit, or the phenomena of spirit in terms of matter ; matter 

 may be regarded as a form of thought, thought may be regarded 

 as a property of matter — each statement has a certain relative 

 truth. But witli a view to the progress of science, the material- 

 istic terminology is in every way to be preferred. For it con- 

 nects thought with the other plienomena of the universe, and 

 suggests inquiry into the nature of those physical conditions, or 

 con-comitants of thought, which are more or less accessible to 

 to us, and a knowledge of which may, in future, help us to exer- 

 cise the same kind of control over the world of thought as we 

 already possess in respect of the material world ; whereas, the 

 alternative, or spiritualistic, terminology is utterly barren, and 

 leads to nothing but obscurity and confusion of ideas. ^Tlius 

 there can be little doubt that the further science advances the 

 more extensively and consistently will all the phenomena of 

 nature be represented by materialistic formula? and symbols. 

 But the man of science, who, forgetting tlie limits of philosoj)hi- 



